


Dragon Age Online

by sanitylost



Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Choices, Choose Your Own Ending, Dragon Age Online, F/F, F/M, Gaming, M/M, MMORPGs, Multiple Possible Parings, Romanceable Characters, Video & Computer Games, Virtual Reality, choose your pairing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-30
Updated: 2016-02-22
Packaged: 2018-05-17 03:50:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5852872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanitylost/pseuds/sanitylost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The year is 2033, and gamers have lined up on launch day for Dragon Age Online, the first VRMMO in gaming history. The Hawkes have always been a gaming family and are eager to jump into action. Soon after game start Dragon Age Online's thousands of players discover that not only are they unable to log out, death in the game means death in the real world.<br/>(or if Dragon Age 2 was Sword Art Online)</p>
<p>(This story is a is a prequel, with multiple possible sequels. I couldn't choose which pairing to use for this story, so I'm writing a version for each pairing. This story will have an ending/sequel for each pairing. After the first few chapters you will get to choose which pairing/sequel you want to read, I will provide links. This is a work in progress, have patience.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Prologue

"Garrett Malcolm Hawke, you ready?" Bethany asks with a smile.

"Never been readier," he replies with a grin. This was the milestone of virtual gaming, nothing this big had ever been achieved. "I can't believe it's finally here."

Carver frowns at them, "Don't celebrate quite just yet. It might not be that good."

"Oh shut up," Bethany laughs, "It's the first VRMMO, and it's Dragon Age! Origins was only the best selling virtual reality game ever created."

"That's the problem," Carver mumbles. "It's an MMO because some rich guy decided to make a gaming company and bought out the rights to the franchise. I was looking forward to Dragon Age 2. What if he ruined it? BioWare would have done so much better."

She puts her hands on her hips and glares at her twin. "Doesn't matter, it's here and it's going to be amazing. Garrett, how much longer till we can log in?" She grabs at his wrist and squints at his watch. "Is this five minutes fast or five minutes slow?"

"Hey!" Garret complains, "Come on, it could be right."

Bethany gives him a look.

"Alright, alright. It's slow, by seven minutes."

"Oh my God!" she exclaims. "We're late! We could have logged in a minute ago. The servers are up."

"What are you talking about?" Carver sneers, "The opening ceremony doesn't start for another hour, we aren't late."

"Yes, we are!" she shouts and spins around to find her nerve gear, "The name I wanted is probably already taken, and I want to see Lothering before the darkspawn attack! It'll be too late by the time the opening ceremony starts." She slips the helmet-like equipment over her head. "Hurry up you fools, I want you there beside me to see the beginning of the blight."

Caver's annoying voice grumbles more complaints as he picks up and equips his nerve gear.

Bethany lays down and is about to activate her nerve gear when she pauses. "Garrett," she says, "Please don't spend forever on character creation. Just this one time, for me. I really want you there with me in Lothering."

"Aww, Bethy, I won't miss the blight. I promise."

He walks over to the game shelf and his gaze lovingly slides over his ancient Xbox One and the countless playstation games he used to play as a child before landing on the expensive equipment for Dragon Age Online. By the time he has his nerve gear properly set up his siblings are already in cyberspace. They look peaceful, laying on their cots.

Their father had worked at Bethesda, before the sickness got him. Garrett had practically been playing video games since before he could speak. He'd tried to convince their mother to join them for the opening ceremony of DAO, but she couldn't handle it. Their father had eagerly waited his whole life for this day and she couldn't bare to experience it without him. It's too bad, Malcolm would have wanted her to be a part of this. It's was out of respect for their father's memory that the three of them had gathered here, in the old gaming room of a house they no longer lived in, to celebrate this milestone in gaming history.

With a smile, he lays down beside his siblings and activates the nerve gear.


	2. The Calm Before the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The servers for Dragon Age Online are up and running, players are logging in and experiencing the world of Thedas for the very first time.
> 
> A map of Thedas can be found here: http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/dragonage/images/8/80/ThedasMap.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100721040624

A man stands amongst a crowd.

His's gold eyes sparkle with glee and his features are overtaken by awe as he watches countless players spawn into Lothering. A grin spreads across his bearded face. As his short black hair is mussed by the wind, he notices that he can feel the sensation it creates. He can feel the world around him like never before, the Ferelden sun even warms his skin.

The man closes his eyes and breathes deep, takes it all in.

...

Far from Lothering and even the Ferelden sun, in the northwest corner of Thedas, fire dances.

Fire dances on the fingers of a roguish youth. The mischievous grin he wears widens as the flames grow larger. The intense heat grows such that it singes the tips of his long blonde hair.

He cackles with delight and hurtles a fire ball towards a nonexistent enemy.

...

In the easternmost part of all Thedas, a girl giggles.

She bites a gold coin as she moans, "Oh, yes!"

"It works! It works! finally," she cries, a tear sliding down her cheek.

She glances downwards and grasps a fistful of silken hair. She tugs, just ever so slightly, before purring, "Yes, darling. Just like that.

...

In the Nevarran wilderness at the heart of Thedas a small group gathers. Tribal tattoos grace their features and pointed ears stick out in every direction.

An old woman climbs the gnarled roots of a great tree and stands proudly above the rest. She has long white hair and two braids frame her aged face. She clears her throat and the those gathered beneath her go silent so that she may speak. "Aneth ara, da'len."

Only a few of the elves smile and respond, "Aneth ara, hahren."

A girl sways in giddiness at hearing the language she'd spent the last three months memorizing. Many around her seem confused and frustrated, but she is filled with pride over her accomplishment, for she can understand the greetings being exchanged.

The old woman proudly holds forth a guild scroll and announces, "Nehn la hanin sahlin. Let us celebrate, Elvhen, that this most joyous and glorious moment is finally upon us. We are now Sabrae, first of the Dalish clans!"

...

In the largest city of the greatest empire, a warrior and mage do battle.

The mage bows her head and bites her wrist, red hair tumbling into her face and concealing her eyes from sight. She hisses as the skin breaks. She draws from the power of the blood that wells forth and casts a bolt of dark magic at her opponent.

He dodges, but too slowly. It burns away the tip of his right ear. Another elf would have screamed, but he laughs at the pain.

"It seems you are loosing your touch sister. Not going soft on me are you?" He growls before lunging forward in a vicious attack.

The female elf barely manages to conjure up a shield in time to block his blow. The greatsword swings away from her as though blown backward by a gust of wind and it clashes against the cobblestone street, creating a rather harsh metallic ring.

Her image flickers as she fade-steps behind him.

They have amassed a rather large gathering of onlookers by now. The observers mutter appreciations at their skill.

The mousy haired elf heaves the greatsword up with one hand, rests it on his shoulder, and spins to face his opponent.

Two sets of green eyes drill into each other.

...

Beneath Ferelden three dwarves are discussing a trade.

"Are you sure about this crossbow brother?" 

An immeasurable amount of gold exchanges hands.

...

In a place familiar to many, a heavyset woman watches a man throw his head back and close his eyes. He raises his arms to the sky as if in worship and sighs contentedly.

She gives him a gentle look and is overwhelmed by the rush of affection she feels for the man.

All about them others seem to be doing similar things. Tasting the air, reveling in the reality of this fictional world.

The crowd around them is made of laughter and anticipation, which is to be expected since the town they are in contains many players, all waiting for the same thing.

Adrenaline rushes through her at the thought of battling some of the first spawns of the blight.


	3. Tempest

"Maker's breath Carver, you look so handsome!" A girl with dark wavy hair and bright gold eyes exclaims. "Just look at you," she laughs condescendingly, "all grown up."

The blue eyed man gives her an irritated look and replies, "Your breasts are bigger than they really are."

She opens her mouth to bite back a scathing remark, but no clever words pour forth. She stutters, flushes deep red, and shyly adverts her eyes.

Carver smirks in victory.

Bethany's wandering gaze fixes upon someone in the crowd. Her eyes widen in excitement. "Carver," she says, nudging him to get his attention. She points to a man in the crowd. "Look."

"What?" snaps Carver.

"It's Garrett!" Bethany gushes and grins a slow satisfied smile.

"No, it's not," Carver drawls in a bored manner.

"Yes, it is," she insists, "He actually listened to me for once."

He snorts, "That man has a beard. Garrett does not have a beard."

Bethany flails in exasperation. "Well you can't expect him to leave the character creation completely alone! It was amazing, so amazing." She starts to ramble, "Like, you don't even have to do anything. The scanner's got amazing facial recognition! Seriously Carver, you saw that right? That's a stupid question, don't answer that, you look kinda like you so you had to have seen that. But yea, default character being your own face, maybe not the best idea even if it's automatically a prettier version of your face. No one wants be themselves. You would know! but at least we won't have a million people with the same face running about, and customization was such a breeze, especially with such a familiar base."

She pauses her rambling to catch her breath, "Anyway," she waves her hand in the direction of the bearded man, "I don't think he changed much other than the beard, look closer. That is defiantly our brother. The game just smoothed out his features a bit, that's all."

Carver chuckles as he listens to his sister talk and then obliges and doubtfully squints at the bearded man. Bethany smirks as she sees recognition reflected in her twin's eyes.

"You're right." he grunts.

"Usually am," she preens, "You know better than to doubt me. I found you after all, and you don't look anything like the boy you really are."

Carver's face contorts in rage and he lets out a huff of indignation, "Fft! Well, I'm not the one who made my boobs bigger, and I didn't make my lips puffy and shit!"

Bethany blushes and sighs, "Maybe it is good that mother stayed at the apartment. She would not approve of either of our characters appearances."

She begins to walk away from Carver with an indifferent wave of her hand, "Come now, let us go greet our brother."

He follows after her, grumbling, "You play too many of these games, it's starting to effect the way you talk."

"I like being in character," she murmurs before raising her voice, "Garrett!"

The man turns about in confusion, trying to find the source of the strangely familiar voice. He notices the pair approaching him and smiles hesitantly.

"Bethany, is that you?"

"Yup," she grins.

Tears well up in his eyes and he speaks, his voice breaking over the words, "It's beautiful."

"What is?" Carver asks.

"The air, it's cold," he says while motioning for Bethany to come closer. He drops to a whisper when she comes near and reverently says, "Look at my arm Bethany, it has goosebumps."

She makes noises of appreciation and they begin to babble to each other about how amazing the upgrades to the sensus adapter are.

"Yeah, great, it's lovely." Carver grumbles then glances above his brother's head and snorts, "Nice name."

Bethany curiously looks up and smiles in amusement.

"Very creative, Hawke," Carver adds sarcastically.

Garrett fidgets in embarrassment and defensively replies, “Well, I had some good names picked out, but the game wouldn't accept them. Why would they create a system that rejects unoffensive words? It just doesn't seem reasonable. In a few weeks no one will be able to come up with an available character name. After the game insisted that I come up with a realistic name for the fourth time I decided to just use our last name. I'm surprised that Bethany's name went through.”

"Huh, they don't accept unrealistic names? I didn't even notice." Bethany says, "Sunshine was my first pick."

"It is kinda a realish name," Caver states, "a stupid name sure, but I wouldn't be surprised to run into someone named that IRL." 

Their conversation is interrupted by shouting in the distance.

Bethany grins at her brothers, "You ready?"

Garret smiles back at her. "Yup," he says, "lets figure out how this combat system works."

Caver scoffs and draws his starter sword, "It can't be that different from origins."


End file.
